.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
But the Cotton Bowl is hardly a bad prize at the end of the year and the teams really weren’t that bad; they simply weren’t as good as advertised.
Oklahoma State at least has a few good excuses. All-America WR Dez Bryant played all of three games before getting suspended for the season thanks to a bizarre and vindictive NCAA ruling. Bryant didn’t get in trouble for meeting with Deion Sanders; he got in trouble for lying to the NCAA and saying he didn’t meet with Sanders. All-star RB Kendall Hunter hurt his ankle and was never quite right, and the offense that was supposed to be a lock to average 40 points per game struggled to find its explosiveness and consistency.
But even with all of the problems and a stunning early-season home loss to Houston, the Cowboys were in a position to get to the BCS with a 9-2 record and a date with struggling Oklahoma to close out the year. Instead of playing inspired football that would’ve led to a spot in the Fiesta Bowl and a date with TCU, the Cowboys got stomped in Norman, losing 27-0 and gaining just 47 passing yards and 62 on the ground. After getting blasted by Oregon in last year’s Holiday Bowl, and with the losses to Texas and Oklahoma this season, this is a program that needs to prove it can win the really big game.
Beating Georgia to start the season appeared to be special, but the Bulldogs turned out to not be very good. Beating Missouri and Texas Tech was nice, but neither game caused much of a ripple on a national scale. A victory over Ole Miss would mean a 10-win season, and even after all the problems and all the failed expectations, this would still be successful season.
Ole Miss didn’t have the same problems that OSU did. Instead, the Rebels simply didn’t play well outside of a brilliant 42-17 destruction of Tennessee. QB Jevan Snead, who was touted as a possible Heisman candidate and a first-round NFL draft pick, had a miserable season, the defense wasn’t quite as dominant as expected, and the turnovers kept coming and coming. Like Oklahoma State, the Rebels had their chances to make big statements and failed when it seemed like things were turning around.
They were good enough to beat Tennessee and LSU in back-to-back games, and then they didn’t show up in the rivalry game loss at Mississippi State, losing 41-27. They were impressive against Arkansas and clunked against Auburn. The best road win was at Vanderbilt, there was a brutally ugly loss at South Carolina and all SEC title hopes were gone by mid-October. But there’s still plenty of firepower and plenty of talent to get excited about, and if Houston Nutt’s club can win a fourth straight bowl game (but the previous two wins came in 2002 and 2004), this will once again be one of the hot teams going into 2010.
While neither team was what everyone hoped for, they should be
jacked up to end the season on a high note, and more than that,
they really aren’t that bad. They’re inconsistent, but
they each have loads of talent and athleticism and they can each
play at a high level when everything is clicking.
Ole Miss is going for its eighth bowl win in its past nine,
while Oklahoma State will try to even the score for the last time
the two teams played in the Cotton Bowl, when Eli Manning’s
Rebels won a 31-28 thriller in 2004.
The SEC has won five of the past six Cotton Bowls with the
one loss the 2008 Missouri blowout over Arkansas, which was
coachless after losing Nutt to Ole Miss. This one should be as
competitive and entertaining as any of the matchup this decade.
Players to Watch: Ole Miss senior RB Dexter
McCluster is the one weapon in the game who can win it by himself.
A slower, less talented Chris Johnson, the diminutive playmaker
isn’t built to take a pounding and he’ll rarely get the
hard yards, but the coaching staff won’t be saving him for
anything in his final collegiate game and will get the ball to him
in a variety of ways, including as a Wildcat quarterback.
Often saved for when needed, as in the loss to South
Carolina when he was unleashed late and almost pulled out the win,
he can carry the ball 25 times, as he did against Tennessee, and
isn’t a bad receiver out of the backfield, catching 39 passes
for 475 yards and three scores. He turned on the production over
the second half of the season and finished with 985 rushing yards
and six scores. He’ll be a lock to hit the 1,000-yard mark
after the first drive.
If it’s possible to get excited about an offensive
lineman, Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung is one to keep an eye
on. A certain first-round draft pick and the possible first tackle
taken, the 6-5, 302-pounder has been a fixture on all-star teams
over the past few years.
He’s brilliant in pass protection, keeping Texas star
Brian Orakpo under wraps last year and erasing Texas
A&M’s Von Miller, the nation’s leading sacker, this
season. If he can neutralize Kentrell Lockett, an NFL-caliber pass
rusher who made five sacks and ten tackles for loss this year, the
price tag will go up and he’ll be a certain top-10 pick.
Before the season, there were some NFL types who threw out Jevan
Snead as a possible top overall pick with the size, the talent, and
the arm to make scouts drool.
When he gets time to set his feet and drive the ball, he can
look as good as any quarterback in the country with every throw in
the arsenal. But if he has make a quick read, has to improvise or
is under pressure in any way, he’ll make major errors and is
more than happy to give the ball to the other side, with 17 picks
on the year, including five games with two picks or more.
He’ll put up yards, but he has to hit 60 percent of his
throws, has to throw more touchdown passes than picks and he has to
get hot early.
Oklahoma State will win if ... The running game
works. The Rebels run defense has been fine, but nothing special
and was run over by Alabama and run around by QB Joe Webb, who ran
for 121 yards and a score, and UAB. Mississippi State and Anthony
Dixon were able to tear off 317 yards and two scores, and there was
some help from QB Chris Relf, who ran for 131 yards and a score.
Kendall Hunter has had time to rest and should finally be
healthy enough to play like the All-American he was supposed to be
before his ankle gave him problems, but the big key could be Zac
Robinson, the team’s second-leading rusher. The senior
quarterback ran for 562 yards and eight scores last year, but he
was kept under wraps this season rushing for 296 yards and four
touchdowns. However, he’s not afraid to take off, running 19
times for 99 yards against Texas Tech before getting knocked out,
and if he runs for 75 yards or more, OSU will win. The Cowboys are
5-0 this year when they run for 195 yards or more.
Ole Miss will win if ... Both the running and passing games click. Ole Miss can throw, and will, but it’s better when McCluster and the running game are controlling the offense. The Rebels have rushed for 20 touchdowns this year, with 19 of them coming in the eight wins. The only rushing score in the four losses came against Auburn, but Snead was awful, completing 16-of-35 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. McCluster will be the star of the Ole Miss show, but the Rebels can’t win unless Snead is decent.
In the eight wins, Snead completed 143-of-209 passes (averaging 68%) with 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and in the four losses he completed 51-of-119 (43%) passes with five touchdowns and nine interceptions. He doesn’t have to carry the offense, but he has to not be awful while the OSU defense focuses all efforts on McCluster.
What will happen: Oklahoma State has the weapons and the improved defense to get to Snead and force him into some major mistakes. What it doesn’t have is an answer for McCluster, who’ll run for more than 150 yards and will touch the ball 30 times on his way to becoming one of the stars of the bowl season. Snead will give away two picks and Oklahoma State will take advantage, but the Rebels defensive front will get to Robinson, too, and the Cowboys running game won’t be quite enough to overcome two big home runs from McCluster.
